Meadowlark Lemon, Member Of The Harlem Globetrotters, Dead At 83

He died at his home Sunday in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Meadowlark Lemon, the talented and humorous Harlem Globetrotter who was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2003, died at his home Sunday in Scottsdale, Arizona, reportsThe New York Daily News. He was 83.

Lemon realized his dream of joining the Globetrotters in 1954 and started a legendary stint that ended in 1978. He earned the “Clown Prince” moniker while playing more than 16,000 games with the basketball troupe.

Born in 1932, the Wilmington, N.C., native realized his dream of joining the Globetrotters shortly after leaving the Army.

Lemon retired from the team in 1978 and began to explore roles on television, appearing on Diff’rent Strokes, Alice, and in the comedy film, The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh. He was also caricatured in a Scooby Doo cartoon.